Manipulative support mechanism for mounting earth working equipment



Get. 21, 1969 w. E. MARTIN 3,473,242

MANIPULATIVE SUPPORT MECHANISM FOR MOUNTING EARTH WORKING EQUIPMENTFiled Nov. 28, 1967 ZflZZZimEZVarii-w Z37?" Maw 1;;

3,473,242 MANEULATIVE SUPPORT MECHANISM FOR MOUNTING EARTH WORKINGEQUIPMENT William E. Martin, Martin Company, P.0. Box 187, Kewanee, Ill.61443 Filed Nov. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 686,077 Int. Cl. E02f 3/85; A011)49/02 US. Cl. 37118 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mountingmechanism attachable with a power of mobile vehicle to support a pieceof earth working equipment and to provide a manipulative structurecapable of inducing a variable shifting or cutting action and/ oradjustment for the location of the earth penetrating edge of said pieceof equipment.

This invention is directed broadly to support structures for varioustypes of earth working units to connect such units to maneuverablemobile vehicles and to introduce certain adjustments or adjustablycontrolled movements that are transmitted to the working units toenhance their designed material handling functions under operation.

More specifically this invention relates to cooperative mountingassemblies attachable to opposite outward sides of a power vehicle or toa mobile vehicle to support at least one end of an earth working devicein a workable relation to such vehicle and wherein each assemblyincludes mechanism adapted to change the relationship of the mountingaxes of such earth working device with respect to the vehicle to obtainvarious earth loading adjustments and manipulations of the loading meansof such earth working device.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provicle manipulativemounting assemblies to connect an earth working machine with oppositeoutward portions of a power unit to obtain various adjustable supportinglocations of the attached end of the earth working machine on said powerunit to meet different conditions of operation as said machine is movedby the power unit.

Another object is to provide a manipulative supporting mechanism tomount earth working equipment on a power unit or tractor to push or towthe equipment by said unit and to provide means in said supportingmechanism to hold the earth penetrating edge or cutting blade of suchequipment in a transverse position to the path of travel of the joinedunits or to induce angular adjustment of such edge or blade to cantforwardly to the right or forwardly to the left at either side of theline of travel of the described units.

Another object is to provide a pair of manipulative supportingmechanisms for opposite sides of a power unit or tractor to mount anearth working device on such unit or tractor and to incorporate operablemeans in such mechanisms to be able to shift or adjust the earthpenetrating edge or blade of the device bodily in a fore or aftdirection in relation to a median transverse support axis.

A further object is to provide a pair of manipulative supportingassemblies for opposite sides or in spaced locations laterally on apower unit or tractor for the attachment of an earth working device ormachine to push or pull such device and wherein said assembliesincorporate controllable means whereby to induce reciprocal motion oroscillatory motion to the earth penetrating edge or blade of the earthworking device to enhance soil or earth working efficiency of suchdevice under operation.

Another object is to provide a pair of mounting assemblies to attachablymount or support at least one end nitcd States Patent 0 'ice of an earthworking device for earth penetration or for loading over a leading edgeor blade upon a mobile vehicle which mounting assemblies are equippedwith operable mechanisms that can shift the mounting points relativelyto the mobile vehicle to obtain various earth penetration attitudes ofthe leading edge or blade of the earth working device in relation to thenormal path of travel of said mobile vehicle and its companion earthworking dev1ce.

All other objects and advantages relating to the present invention shallhereinafter appear in or become apparent from the following detaileddescription of the invention having reference to the accompanyingdrawing of the disclosure providing a part of this specification.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of conventional type of front endloader that is carried by and mounted upon a power vehicle or tractor bymeans of the manipulative means of the present invention which areduplicated on both opposite outward sides of the vehicle shown by way ofexample or at any laterally spaced locations on such a vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the front end loader bucket andthe relationship of this apparatus to the manipulative mounting orsupporting mechanisms and this view demonstrates the opposite outwardcanting of the earth loading edge or blade of the bucket by the use ofthe supporting mechanisms;

FIG. 3 is another diagrammatic plan view of the bucket end of the loaderto illustrate the shifting phase of the earth engaging edge or open endof the loader by the use of the supporting mechanisms;

FIG. 4 is still another diagrammatic plan view of the bucket end of theloader to here illustrate the nudging or oscillating action of thebucket which is brought about by the manipulative means of thesupporting assemblies of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a general side elevational view of a large capacity earthmoving scraper and a mobile vehicle or tractor which are joined by meansof the manipulative support mechanism that can function to inducevarious controlled displacements of the attached end portion of theearth moving scraper to change the attitude or relationship of the earthloading end of the scraper to meet different conditions of operation.

Referring now to FIG. 1, here illustrated is a conventional type frontend loader 1 and a conventional type power vehicle or tractor 2, whichtwo main units function together for earth working purposes. In themounting means for the loader to attach the latter to the power 'vehicleare the main operative mechanisms of the present invention which aredesignated as assemblies 3 and 4 best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 suchmechanisms being the manipulative assemblies hereinbefore referred tothat function to change the attitude of the earth cutting edge or material receiving end of the earth working facility.

The front end loader comprises, generally, a material carrying bucket 5having an earth penetrating edge or material receiving blade 6, andupper and lower hitch elements or links 7 and 8 constituting hitch meanswhich extend between the bucket 5 and power vehicle 2. This linkmechanism is the near side structure or assembly as viewed in FIG. 1 andsuch a structure is duplicated on the far side of FIG. 1. All referencenumbers will be the same for both duplicated structures except that thefar side numbers will be primed, particularly in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

The bucket end of link 8 is connected to pin 9 on lug 10 of the bucket 5and link 7 is connected with pin 11 on the swingable bracket link member12 pivoted on pin 9 and forming part of the bucket dumping mechanism 13.Mechanism 13 comprises an upright 14 on bucket 5 and a hydrauliccylinder 15 pivotally connected at 16 on upright 14 and at 17 on theupper end of link member 12; cylinder 15 normally holding the bracketlink 12 against bucket at point 18. Expansion of the cylinder 15 Willdump the bucket in the usual manner when so intended.

A suitable bracket mounting means such as 19 is mounted on the vehicle 2and carries a pivot pin 20 to attach the vehicle end of link 7 at thevehicle. The bucket 5 is raised and lowered by the hydraulic cylindermeans 21 pivoted at 22 on vehicle 2 and at 23 on extension 24 that is apart of link 7. And it is the vehicle end of link 8 that is supported byand connected with the manipulative mechanism 3 now to be described.

As stated before, there are two such manipulative support mechanisms 3and 4 that provide mounting structures for the front end loader. Sincethese assemblies are identical in construction they will have the samereference numerals except that the far side support mechanism 4 willhave primed numerals to simplify the description.

Assembly 3 comprises a pendulum mounted triangular plate 25 rockablypivoted on a stub shaft or pin 26 suitably carried by vehicle 2. A pin27 in the dependent end of the hanger plate 25 pivotally connects andsupports the vehicle end of link 8 on the plate. Both pin 26 and pin 26on the other side of vehicle 2 are axially aligned as best seen in FIG.2.

A pair of double acting hydraulic cylinders 28 and 29, provided with theusual hydraulic service lines, are pivotally supported at 30 and 31 onvehicle 2 and these cylinders are pivotally joined at laterally spacedpoints on plate 25 withpins 32 and 33 respectively, as well shown inFIG. 1, thus placing the cylinder reaction points to either side of theplate supporting pin 26.

It is with the described assemblies 3 and 4 working through attachablemeans such as links 8 that these twin mechanisms can change thepositionable attitude of the earth engaging edge or blade of thematerial handling means of an earth working device or vehicle. Three ofthe various possible manipulations are characterized diagrammatically inFIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Other adjustments and regulatory motions are possible.

In FIG. 2 a blade 6 or edge cant is brought about by operating cylinders28' and 29 to rock plate 25' to move link 8' as per arrow 34. Cylinders28 and 29 are oppositely activated to move link 8 as per arrow 35 thuschanging the position of bucket 5 from a true transverse position to theline of travel into the dotted line position 36. Reversing the fourcylinder activation from the above described procedure will cant thebucket to a position indicated by the dot and dash line showing 37 aswill readily become apparent.

FIG. 3 diagrammatically demonstrates how the position of the device suchas bucket 5 can be bodily adjusted from some forward position 38 to arearward position 39 to either side of a normal median transverseposition as shown in full lines and this is brought about by thesimultaneous use of the same or like cylinders on each side to rockplates 25 and 25' together either forwardly or rearwardly as desired bythe operator.

And in FIG. 4 the bucket 5 is nudged or reciprocated fore and aft of agiven position by more rapid operation of the cylinders, using the sameprocedure on both cylinder assemblies 3 and 4 to shift the bucket andits working edge between any two positions such as shown by dotted lines40 forwardly and by dot and dash lines 41 rearwardly. In this connectionit should be noted that a back and forth slicing action is possible asin FIG. 2 by more rapid operation of the opposite cylinder sets inchanging the angularity of the leading edge of the bucket 5.

It is also further possible to obtain other combinations of adjustmentor movements of the leading edge or blade of an earth working devicethrough the use of certain other combinations of action of the pairs ofcylinders 28-29 and 2829'.

Since this manipulative mounting arrangement is readily adaptable to anytype of a connected earth or material carrying vehicle, FIG. 5 shows ascraper generally designated at 42 having a front wheel support 43,scraper bowl 44, blade means45, universal coupling means 46 and hitchmeans 47 having a pivotal connection with pin 48 of the near sidemanipulative support mechanism 49 shown as mounted on a power unit suchas 50. The scraper is generally of the character and type set forth anddescribed in my copending application Ser. No. 686,172, filed Nov. 28,1967, but the scraper may be of another type and need not necessarily belimited to a scraper of the construction illustrated in FIG. 5.

Mechanism 49 is duplicated laterally on the far side of the power unit50 and the operation and function of the assemblies 49-49 are the sameas are the two described assemblies 3 and 4 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The foregoing specification has been directed to certain preferredconstructions to characterize and illustrate the present invention byway of example and not by way of limitation. Changes in the combinationsshown or in the respective individual salient elements of the inventionare contemplated without departure from the fundamental inventiveconcept herein described and disclosed. The extent of such modificationsare, therefore. not to be limited however except by the breadth andscope of the subject matter contained in the appended claims directed tothe manipulative supporting mechanisms for earth or material movingworking equipment of the kind and character hereinbefore disclosed anddescribed.

What I claim is:

1. In a manipulative support apparatus for coupling a material handlingor earth working device having a material penetrating and loading edgeor blade with a maneuverable mobile vehicle to guide such devicecomprising, in combination, a pair of support elements pivotally mountedon opposite sides of said vehicle for rocking movement about a commonaxis transverse of said vehicle, a pair of hitch elements pivotallyconnected at one end thereof to transversely spaced points on saidmaterial handling or earth working device and at the opposite endsthereof to said support elements at positions spaced from said axis,selectively operable double-acting motor means interconnecting saidvehicle and said support elements for selectively and positivelyimparting to either or both of said support elements oscillating rockingmovement about said axis, and control means for said motor meansproviding various blade movements imparted thereto through said supportelements by virtue of the selective operation of said motor meansincluding canting to either the right or the left, extension, retractionand rapid reciprocation.

2. In a manipulative support apparatus as set forth and defined in claim1, wherein said rockable support elements are freely pivotally mountedupon fulcrums on said vehicle, said fulcrums constituting the pivotalmounting of said support elements, said hitch means being connected toradially outward portions of said rockable support elements and saidmotor means being connected with said support elements at oppositelyrelated locations taken in relation to the pivotal fulcrum points ofsaid rockable support means on the vehicle.

3. In a manipulative support apparatus of the kind set forth and definedin claim 2, wherein said motor means for said support elements arepositioned for operation in planes disposed angularly with respect tothe common axis of said fulcrums.

4. In the combination of claim 1, wherein said rockable support elementseach comprise an integral member pivotally mounted on a trunnion on saidvehicle for free fore and aft pendulum motion relative to its trunnion,and said motor means are respectively pivotally connected at spacedlocations to said integral members to induce fore and aft pendulumrocking thereof for direct transmittal to the hitch means of said earthworking device.

5. In the combination of claim 4, wherein said integral 2,986,294 5/1961Granryd 37-141 XR member is mounted for rocking about said transverseaxis 3,145,488 8/ 1964 French 37141 and in a longitudinal plane parallelwith the line of travel 3,226,858 1/1966 Spannhake 172-40 XR of thevehicle, and said motor means comprise coasting 3,238,646 3/1966Oldenburg 17240 XR hydraulic means connected for operation in the planeof said integral member and to react on said members at the o FOREIGNPATENTS spaced locations on said members. 673,639 11/1963 Canada-References S. Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1Q Us CL 2,499,620 3/1950Alderman 172-40 37141; 172--40 2,619,748 12/1952 McIntosh 37-141

